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Review by Rob.

Queen Andreena - Rags to Riches

And on the first day the good Lord looked down from on high and decided there was too much metal on the bill and thus Friday would become forever known as the Alternative Day. Truth is there may just not be enough quality metal around to spin out over 3 days and there may be a need to broaden the appeal of the festival too. This is the first of these such days, the question was, would it work, and is it really that alternative given the bill. Lets keep a score, metal v alternative.

After a very pleasant evening spent reminiscing about past Doningtons (and boring a lot of people with stories of the Monsters of Rock) we awoke to find Leicestershire's version of the Mistral blowing cold air down from the frozen wastelands of the north (well Yorkshire anyway). We headed into the arena in a bid to warm up, I mean this is June for fucks sake, and in good time to catch the early acts (in fact I always like to see the first act at a festival). So too does a certain nameless member of our team when that act is Queen Adreena. The swathe he cut through the crowd was possibly the fastest I have seen him move and was reminiscent of another well known person at the wet tee shirt competition at RocknBlues. I managed to catch up with Steve (oops) at a good vantage point in front of the main stage and the show began. The music is very glam goth rock and enjoyable, but all eyes (well male ones) are on lead singer Katie Garside. She is a natural star with the looks to boot. She is also pissed which might have spoiled it for some but where else can you see a scantily dressed woman writhing on the floor with a half empty bottle of wine. At least without paying for it. Part metal part alternative in my eyes so its an early draw. Metal 1 - Alternative 1 .

So its a good start then, but who is this Fozzy on the bill? I was hoping it was a Muppet bear solo outing but sadly its the wrestling influenced novelty band fronted by Chris Jericho. They just were not my thing at all but it has to be said the kids loved them - in a WWF kind of way. But is definitely Metal 2 - Alternative 1 now. One of my favourite albums of recent times was I to Sky by JJ72. I must also admit to fancying the bass player too. Sadly she has now departed and the band seem a shadow of their former selves choosing to play a self indulgent set with only a couple from the aforementioned album. No 'Oxygen' either. Still they fire in the equaliser for the Alternative team. Metal 2 - Alternative 2. Now when I heard that the Others were to play Download I was amazed and knew it would be a set not to be missed. It started uneventfully with their usual set going down ok ish before a smaller than usual crowd. However about halfway through the hardcore metal fans start to arrive for the next act and it all goes brilliantly tits up. Firstly bassist Johnny starts giving a section of the crowd the finger, then offering them out. The bottles start flying in response. The it becomes obvious Dominic is really wasted and the legend that is "Bless your cotton socks Donington" is born. Uttering this phrase after every song is perhaps a little over the top though. Then to cap everything the bass stops working, Johnny throws it down and refuses to play on. Only trouble is last number 'This is for the poor' demands a bass intro. After a lengthy stand off he gets back on it and the set concludes amidst chaos. Most people slagged them. I loved it, at THE rock and roll festival we at least had a performance to match. Metal 2 - Alternative 3.

Scots oiks Biffy Clyro play a pretty good and heavy set, pity I had a nap and missed most of it. Sorry guys. Metal 3 - Alternative 3. On waking I find that the crowd has swelled to gigantic proportions. The reason? The supposed last ever UK appearance of Megadeth. I hadn't seen this lot since 1991, and I suspect the majority of this audience were in a similar boat, though for the kids this might have been their first experience. They were once a powerful metal outfit who to their credit would never dream of singing about the usual metal staples of sex, love and partying. Even from a long way back ode to a hangover 'Wake up dead' sounds great. As does 'In my Darkest Hour'. Dave Mustaine doesn't say much, or indeed move much, the back problems being the main reason for him packing it in. Too much skydiving Dave? The rest of the set goes through the motions but the crowd don't care and he gets a heroes send off. Metal 4 - Alternative 2. After this the crowd thins greatly but Dinosaur Jnr don't really care. They are just glad to be back together playing music and reminding us that along with the Pixies and Mudhoney they helped pave the way for the grunge explosion over 15 years ago. In J Mascis the festival also gets its first guitar hero of the weekend. The small audience love it. Metal 4 - Alternative 3.

As evening draws in Garbage arrive to play their greatest hits before a rumoured long sabbatical. Its a superb set and you forget just how many good songs they have. Its new single 'Why do you love me' which really takes off, but 'Stupid Girl' and 'Push It' are awesome slabs of guitar pop perfectly played. Shirley Manson is the star tonight, like sister in arms PJ Harvey she can look either great or lousy. Tonight its the former. Halfway through her dress collapses and a great gig becomes perfect. Metal 4 - Alternative 4.

Billy Idol - Literally back from the dead

Now we need a legend to round off the evening and they don't fit this description better than Sir William of Idol. The tent is packed and a carnival atmosphere prevails. Indeed its hard to see much as he comes on and rips into 'Eyes without a Face'. Several minor classics and a couple of newies pass before he introduces the nearly as legendary Steve Stevens on guitar and it can only be one song. 'White Wedding' sounds fresh and exciting just like great music should be, and its quite a moment. From here its amazing, unexpected cover versions of 'Jump' and 'Who are you' crank up the party and he ends with the classic 'Rebel Yell' and a version of 'Mony Mony' which goes on as long as some bands whole sets. No one cares, He's a true legend the eighties and He's back. He storms the Act of the Festival, and he transcends the metal/alternative scoring system. And bugger I forgot to vote for him in the festival awards.

There just time to see the last 15 mins of Feeder who as ever are excellent ending with 'Just a Day' and winning the day for the Alternative crowd but only after extra time. Metal 4 - Alternative 5. It just about gets away with being Alternative Day, but I have a feeling the rest of the weekend may be a bit more on the heavy side though.

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A - Someone lend me an iron please

For just about everyone heading for the festival on the Saturday, the day was known as Black Sabbath day, the veteran metallers honouring us with their presence as main stage headliners. The attendance was much improved from the Friday too. However there was much more on offer including a couple of notable reunions, some young upstarts, gratuitous nudity, and even slightly better weather.

I arrive late enough to miss the very influential Dwarves, but am informed that Nick Oliveri played with them, and the guitarist played the whole set nude. Just hope the cold weather didn't affect things too much. Its getting very grey overhead but A provide some welcome rays of sunshine on stage .Playing a few tunes from upcoming new album along with some old faves. Nothing' rocks heavily and 'Starbucks' still sounds like the long lost hit single it should have been. Despite being royally fucked over by their record company the band sound like they are going to fight on and that can only be good news. Bowling for Soup are entertaining for a lot of reasons but sadly the music is not one of them. The 30 second crowd surfing breaks are the best bit, along with the between song banter that descends into anal sex with a blow up sheep. At least they entertain.

By mid afternoon the crowd swells again for the appearance of the classic line up of Anthrax. Messrs Ian, Belladonna, Spitz, Bello and Benante sprint onto the stage and its like 1987 all over again. Except that Mr Belladonna is clearly hiding something, well there must be something (or more accurately nothing) underneath what can only be described as a 'Fucking huge wig'. Still Scott Ian is bald as a coot but doesn't care as he riffs his way through 'Among the living' which gives way to 'Indians' and 'Caught in a mosh'. They play a lot of classics from 'Spreading the Disease' and 'Among the Living' as well as the Joe Jackson cover 'Got the time'. Sadly there is nothing else from the excellent 'Persistence of time' album and no 'Bring the Noise' or 'I'm the man' for rap fans. Nevertheless they are reasonably entertaining and the crowd enjoys them. Whether this reunion will carry on I'm not sure, and I haven't a clue what has happened to John Bush.

I leave scandinavian Gods Him to their adoring fans as well, as quite a few bottles from the disenchanted and head to the welcome Guinness tent to sink a few. This was the highlight of the festival's bars, same price as small bottles of lager from other bars and served by some delightful females too.

Mention rock super groups and the image of Yes or The Travelling Wilburys spring to mind albeit briefly. Latterly we have seen the rise of Audioslave along with Velvet Revolver who take to the main stage here as main special guests. Its the first time Slash and Duff have played here since the fateful day in 1988 when two fans were tragically crushed to death during Guns n Roses set. The crowd measures since then and the aftermath of the Pearl Jam incident at Roskilde have gone a long way to prevent this ever happening again. Here at Download for example the crowd is split into 2 by a walkway running from stage to mixing desk. Scot Weiland intends to make the most of this and goes walkabout during the set to meet his people. He looks well considering what chemicals have been introduced to his body over the years. Slash too is on fine form hammering out the riffs to 'Suckertrain Blues' and 'Big Machine'. Duff plays it cool like a modern day Paul Simonen, standing stock still smoking. Along with Mat Sorum he is the engine behind the band. Its a great set taking in the best of the debut album along with Guns n Roses classics 'Mr Brownstone' and 'Its so Easy', and Stone Temple Pilots 'Sex Type Thing'. However its the surprise cover of 'Wish you were here' along with a truly colossal set closer 'Slither' that really set the seal on one of the great rock performances seen on this site. Now who can top that?

Sabbath - Masters of the festival

There are a lot of bands for who the terms influential and legends have been used, sometimes without too much foundation. In the case of Black Sabbath there can be no doubts. Now in the 37th year of their existence they are back to once more play some of the songs that invented a whole genre. No matter that they haven't done anything much musically of note since 1983 or so, like the Stones their concerts remind us how important they have been in music, and also how many fucking classic songs they have in their locker. So we get 'NIB', 'War Pigs', a rare outing for 'Dirty Women', 'Sweetleaf', 'Iron Man', 'Fairies Wear Boots', a stunning 'Into the Void' and of course 'Paranoid' wraps the main set up. The focus for much of the crowd, Ozzy is on great form and plays as if it might be his last UK appearance, but of course you never know with Ozzy. Even more surprisingly he sings for the most part in tune. The entire band are tighter than a Yorkshireman's wallet though and are worshipped by the whole audience. I wonder how many saw In Flames or Helmet on the other stages, but knowing Sharon Osbourne I reckon she will have them finished in time for Sabbath. All too quickly its over, an encore of 'Children of the Grave' and the end of a superb 90 minutes. Its been a good day, very heavy, very metal and we still have Sunday to come.

Footnote. I missed it but in the middle of the day there was a touching tribute to Dimebag Darrell, who played the festival only the year before. Very sad that he will never grace these fields again. Just shows that sometimes there are more important things than enjoying the music. RIP.

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The Glitterati - Number 1 with a mullet

After a short but sweet sleep of about 3 hours after being up most of the night chilling, I did some chilling of a different kind. Fuck me it was cold on the Sunday morning, and this is Summer or so we are told. Anyway lets get moving and try to get some warmth into our systems and check out the early action.

There are a couple of other things to note this morning. Firstly not too many souls are about early doors. This really included me so the amble down to see Henry Rollins Sunday Sermon had to be sacrificed but by all accounts he was quite the comedian. Secondly the tents seemed to be the busiest places early on, the main stage rather deserted at times. Perhaps the perceived warmth under canvas had made people congregate. Perhaps it was also the promise of some good early music. First up for me were The Saints. Now these guys have been around a bit, from the early days of punk and appeared on Top of the Pops when I was nine years old. Suffice to say I don't recall them playing 'This Perfect Day' then, but they play it today and it sounds great. The Aussie trio run through their punk rock standards and the small crowd really enjoy it. They suffer the early bands curse of the short set but it warms me up for The Glitterati. I have heard a fair bit about this lot and whilst they are nothing new their punk/sleaze rock hybrid goes down well. Think New York Dolls, Hanoi Rocks and The Clash and you are almost there. They make a good noise, the jury's out on whether they have any decent tunes though. Oh and the guitarist has a truly dreadful haircut, a kind of cross between Jimmy Saville and Peter Stringfellow.

I walk past the main stage as Papa Roach are dying a slow painful death and head on to see Helmet instead. They play an excellent and varied set airing stuff from all stages of their career. Not being too knowledgeable about them I was surprised at how poppy and commercial some of the stuff was. There was also a fair amount of heavy stuff too, so they appealed to most of the sizeable crowd. And they had Frankie Bello on bass to boot. Over on the main stage things aren't going quite so well. Nightwish are held up first at the airport, then on the motorway. An hour or so passes until they finally materialise to play only 3 songs. I found them interesting, a combination of goth, prog rock and opera. They are quite well received too after making a lot of effort to get here. All this messing about means Slayer are on late too. Thankfully they don't hang around once on stage. Classics like 'South of Heaven' and 'Seasons in the Abyss' blast out. 'Mandatory Suicide' is awesome but they top this with choice cuts from 'Reign in blood', 'Angel of Death' and 'Raining Blood' top off a brutal 30 minutes.

Its now time to head back to the Snickers Stage to see the weekends surprise special guests. Sadly this turns out not to be AC/DC but Funeral for a Friend, who are still excellent powering through an emo charged set featuring new songs from upcoming album 'Hours', but its mainly debut album favourites, 'Bullet Theory' and 'She Drove me to Daytime Television' which are the real hits with the crowd. The new stuff seems darker and not everyone liked it. Sadly that seems to be the thing with this kind of music, bands who attempt to change and do something different risk alienating their fans. Sad really.

Like one or two of the other bands here this weekend I saw Therapy? at one of the original Monsters of Rock shows in the early 90s. Back then they were seen as a kind of alternative metal band, not the normal sort who would play Donington. Now they are just another band here. But what a band! They play a shortish set to an adoring throng who mainly want to hear the songs from the classic debut. The band oblige with the likes of 'Isolation', 'Knives' and of course hit singles 'Screamager' and 'Nowhere'. Andy Cairns looks no different to back then and still possesses a voice of passion. The band are tight as fuck and really get the crowd going. Its a fitting end to the events in the Napster Tent.

But its not yet the end of the festival, there is the small matter of tonight's headliners, System of a Down. Arguably the are the most hotly anticipated of the headliners as they are the only ones to have an album just released with the promise of another at Christmas. Not one to do things by halves these boys. They also boast a stage set of the Iron Maiden kind with backdrops and ramps and stuff. They open with new single BYOB and the sound quality is boosted to the best level of the day, a usual occurrence with headliners. They play lots of stuff fro the new album which most of the audience already seem to know. There's a mass sing along of 'My cock is much bigger than your cock', surely the strangest refrain to be heard at a gig ever. Their classic album Toxicity is well represented as they proceed to play just about every track from it. Its a measure of the new stuff how easily it sits next to 'Chop Suey', 'Prison Song' and the title track. Its all technically brilliant but there little in the way of onstage banter with the audience if i was to be critical. Its a minor quibble though, blending jazz, blues, techno,pop and metal and just about every other genre at some point, SOAD are the masters of Donington tonight.

Now its time to do the rock and roll thing and spend the night.....driving home as I had work the next day. What a party animal.

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